FFTC Agricultural Policy Platform (FFTC-AP)

Dr. Jeongbin Im

Professor

Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development

College of Agricultural and Life Science

Seoul National University

Seoul, Korea

E-mail: jeongbin@snu.ac.kr

 

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) has implemented the ‘Livestock Vehicle Registration System’ since August 23, 2012. It is to collect and control information on vehicles accessing livestock farming facilities so as to establish an efficient animal health management system for the prevention of infection diseases in domestic animals. Under this system, the owners of vehicles accessing livestock farming facilities must register their vehicles and drivers, mount a GPS (global positioning system) for automatic vehicle access and movement information collection and complete a prescribed training course. This system is for prompt action in the event of an outbreak of infectious disease in domestic animals and prompt quarantine measures to prevent the spread of these diseases, therefore minimizing livestock damage. 

 

Major contents and key features of livestock farming vehicle registration system are discussed below: 

 

(1) (Registration) Owners of vehicles accessing livestock farming facilities to transport livestock, raw milk, animal drugs, feed, livestock waste, chaff, or compost; or to carry out medical treatment, artificial insemination, consulting, sampling, animal disease prevention, or machinery repair must register their vehicles and drivers (regular driver where a number of drivers are assigned to a single vehicle) with city, county, or district offices in the locality of their residences. Livestock farming facilities which are regulated by this regime are slaughter houses, milk stations, feedmills, livestock markets, livestock breeding farms, hatcheries and collection sites, etc. Operators of vehicles for which the main business is livestock transport and medical treatment (which visit livestock farming facilities on a regular basis) and of farm vehicles must undergo 6-hours of training at an educational institute appointed by the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation before registration, and within one year after registration. 

 

(2) (Observances) Owners of vehicles accessing livestock farming facilities must install a GPS and vehicle registration sticker in front of their vehicles after completing registration and must not shut off, tamper with, or remove the GPS while the vehicles are in operation or accessing stock farming facilities. The GPS must be constantly inspected and managed for normal operations. If there is a GPS failure, an immediate report must be made to the Vehicle Registration System Operation Center run by the Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency. 

 

(3) (Sanctions) Vehicle owners who have not registered their vehicles or mounted a GPS on their vehicles and drivers who have shut off, tamper with, or removed the GPS from their vehicles may face imprisonment for a maximum of one year, or a maximum fine of KRW 5 million. Owners and drivers who have not taken the necessary measures for normal GPS operation or who have not completed the prescribed training may be fined a maximum of KRW 5 million. 

To prevent invasions of privacy resulting from disclosure of collected personal information, the misuse of information shall be imposed with a fine of KRW 50 million or five years imprisonment if the information collected is used for any other purpose than that prescribed. The collected information is stored for three months (90 days) in the GPS terminal of the corresponding vehicle and then it will be automatically deleted. 

 

Date submitted: July 27, 2013 Reviewed, edited and uploaded: August 5, 2013